An international tournament featuring Algeria and Israel

Judges from Algeria participated in the World Youth Kickboxing Championship, held in Jesolo, Italy, from September 18 to 27. This international sporting event included the Israeli delegation, raising discussions about Algeria's participation in competitions that allow for sports interaction with representatives from Israel, despite Algeria's publicly stated opposition to normalization.

The Algerian newspaper “El Moudjahid” reported on September 27 that international referee Mohamed Bouchenine officiated the bouts at the championship, and also noted that referee Khaled Allal received the “A” international classification from the World Kickboxing Federation during the same event.

The organizational documents published on the official website of the World Kickboxing Federation referenced the Israeli delegation as part of the arrangements for participation, while the list of accredited referees from the international body included names from both Algeria and Israel, such as Khaled Allal and Mohamed Hajjame from Algeria, and David Ramon and Eddie Smadja from Israel.

This participation raises questions about the compatibility of engaging in sports competitions that include Israel with the political positions opposing normalization, especially since participating in an international championship of this nature implicitly means acceptance of being within a single competitive framework.